BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The speedway that calls itself the last great Colosseum now will be temporarily transformed into the worlds largest football stadium.Tennessee and Virginia Tech meet Saturday night at the Bristol Motor Speedway, located approximately halfway between the two campuses. The showdown dubbed the Battle at Bristol is expected to draw over 150,000 fans, which would shatter the current NCAA single-game record of 115,109 at Michigan Stadium when the Wolverines beat Notre Dame in 2013.Its something that will live with these individuals for the rest of their lives, Tennessee coach Butch Jones said.A Tennessee-Virginia Tech matchup at Bristol had been discussed for about 20 years and finally was announced in 2013. Jerry Caldwell , the speedways general manager, said the facilitys unique characteristics made it ideal for this transformation.We jokingly say were a football stadium on steroids, Caldwell said. When you walk into the place, thats what you see. Thats what it feels like. You walk in and youre completely surrounded by stands just like you would be at a football stadium.Caldwell declined to disclose the costs of temporarily converting the speedway into a football stadium. Tennessee and Virginia Tech are both guaranteed $4 million because each school sold over 40,000 tickets. According to the game contract, each school also may receive an additional $300,000 because the grandstand seats sold out.This will be the speedways first football game since the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles played a 1961 exhibition game here that drew 10,000 fans to a facility that seated 20,000. Saturday nights event will have an entirely different atmosphere and feel.Im curious to see how the field will be and how far the stands and everything will be from the field, Virginia Tech receiver Isaiah Ford said.The speedway is hosting the football game less than three weeks after a Sprint Cup race.The morning after the race, 450 truckloads of rock and manufactured sand evened out the speedways bowl-shaped infield, which had a natural drop of about 3 feet from the edge to the middle. More than 100,000 square feet of AstroTurf were brought in to form the actual field, a process that was completed in about a week. Over 5,000 seats also were added.Sydney Stahlbaum of AstroTurf noted the company was part of similarly rapid installations before. NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans, was converted from a grass surface to turf in four days in September 2015. Three years earlier, the company needed nine days to install turf in StubHub Center in Los Angeles for the 2012 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.A drivers meeting room was reconfigured into a locker room for Tennessee. A tire mounting area now is Virginia Techs locker room. The coaches boxes and radio booths are where NASCAR officials generally monitor races. Technology was installed to allow instant replay and communication between coaches.Its a bit surreal, Caldwell said. Its been a lot of fun to take people in who havent seen it. The common word they use is `breathtaking to walk in and see this place completely converted. It feels like a football stadium.But of course, its not.Rather than having video scoreboards at each end zone, Bristol has Colossus -- a 700-ton overhead scoreboard with four high-resolution screens that is suspended above the infield. The seats and coaches boxes are much farther away from the field here than at a typical football stadium. Tennessee assistant athletic director for events management David Elliott said, Were telling both teams to have a ton of binoculars up in the coaches booth so they can see better there.Both teams plan to visit the field for a walkthrough Friday. Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said he doesnt do that for all road games but feels its essential this week so his players get acclimated to this unique environment and coaches can get a sense of their perspective from the boxes. Jones said the biggest challenge is making sure players focus on football and not the atmosphere.All this work isnt just for one football game.A week after Tennessee-Virginia Tech, Football Championship Subdivision programs East Tennessee State and Western Carolina will play here in front of a significantly smaller crowd. ETSU athletic director Richard Sander says its still a once-in-a-lifetime situation to play in that venue.Its certainly a step up for an ETSU program currently playing home games on a high school field while waiting for its new on-campus stadium to be completed.After that game, Bristol will be converted back into a racetrack. Stahlbaum said the stone base used to even out the infield will be reused around the property, while the field will be rolled up and stored.In the meantime, speedway officials will look for the next opportunity for this type of event.Our hope is that this will lead to other things, Caldwell said. Motorsports will remain our core business, its who we are, but we really think this will open us up to new opportunities, other football games, possibly other sports or other entertainment events.---AP Sports Writer Henry Kurz in Blacksburg, Virginia, contributed to this report.---The APs college football page: http://collegefootball.ap.org Larry Allen Youth Jersey . 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WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg so badly wanted to start the Washington Nationals first game after the break that he gave up the chance to pitch in the All-Star Game in his hometown of San Diego.His 13th victory was a reward for that.Strasburg allowed one run and three hits with six strikeouts in eight masterful innings as the Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 on Friday night. Strasburg (13-0) has won 16 consecutive decisions dating to September, a franchise record for starting pitchers.He got probably some grief by not pitching in the All-Star Game, but he was doing what he thought was best for us and for him, manager Dusty Baker said. Boy, that sets the tone for the rest of the series.Strasburg has allowed a total of five hits in three starts since coming off the disabled list on July 3. Catcher Wilson Ramos said this is the best he has ever seen Strasburg pitch, and eight innings matched the right-handers season high.At the plate, Strasburg drove in what turned out to be the winning run on a sacrifice bunt attempt in the seventh inning. He reached safely because of an error by Pirates first baseman David Freese.I was just telling myself Im going to stick in there, Strasburg said. I wasnt going to walk away without getting it down.First baseman Clint Robinson, who drove in a run in the fifth, scored in the seventh on the combination of a wild pitch by reliever Neftali Feliz and a throwing error by catcher Eric Fryer. Center fielder Michael Taylor broke the game open with a two-run homer, his seventh of the season, off Feliz.Pittsburgh starter Francisco Liriano (5-9) got the loss after allowing three runs and five hits in six-plus innings.I thought he pitched a very competitive ballgame, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. Its good to see him move it deeper into the game.Competitive wasnt enough against the Nationals lineup, which was strong even without Daniel Murphy, who was scratched with a sore left hamstring. Robinson, who didnt learn he was startting until batting practice, went 2 for 4.ddddddddddddBig Robinson, hes always ready, Baker said. He got some big hits for us, he tied the game up off Liriano and then he got another hit that started a rally. Clint has been a life saver for us and especially in (Ryan Zimmermans) absence.The Nationals keep chugging along atop the National League East in large part because of starting pitching. Strasburg has been the best and on Friday lowered his ERA to 2.51.I felt pretty good, said Strasburg, who threw 69 of 105 pitches for strikes. Im trying to go out there with the same game plan, the same plan of attack and focus on executing pitches.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: RHP Ryan Vogelsong, who has been out since May 23 when he was hit by a pitch and suffered three facial fractures, threw six scoreless innings in a rehab start for Double-A Altoona. ... C Francisco Cervelli, who has been on the DL since June 11 with a broken bone in his wrist, doubled and singled in a rehab appearance with Triple-A Indianapolis.Nationals: Murphy said he felt tightness in his hamstring after sliding into second base during the All-Star Game on Tuesday. The team listed him as day-to-day but he wasnt sure if hed be able to play Saturday night. ... Baker said RHP Joe Ross continues to toss but remains on the DL with no definitive timeline.FATHERS DAYSThis is the Pirates fourth annual dads trip, and almost 20 fathers of people throughout the organization are taking part.Its an absolute blast for everybody, Hurdle said. Its kind of like revisiting Little League but backwards because then weve got to follow our fathers around and make sure they havent left stuff behind.UP NEXTPirates RHP Gerrit Cole (5-4, 2.77 ERA) returns from the DL and starts Saturday against Nationals RHP Tanner Roark (8-5, 3.01). Cole has been out since June 11 with a strained right triceps muscle. ' ' '